The Maggid of Melbourne: Mi Shebarach

Is the service too long for a mi sheberach? In the seventeenth century, the fiery Rabbi Yaakov Emden condemned the additional prayer for the sick as an unnecessary addition to the service. Although he favoured cancelling the practice, he was unsuccessful in his quest.

The Maggid of Melbourne is an ongoing series by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper – teacher of Hasidut, community rabbi, lawyer, IDF reservist, father to six and native Australian – in which he shares some short Torah ideas on topics of current interest from his Pardes classroom, his research and from his shul in Zur Hadassa. To the Beit Midrash!

About Levi Cooper

Levi teaches Bible, Hasidut, Maimonides and Midrash at Pardes. Originally from Australia, Levi holds an LL.B., LL.M. and Ph.D. from the Law Faculty of Bar-Ilan University, and is a member of the Israel Bar Association. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Law Faculty of Bar-Ilan University and post-doctoral fellow in the Law Faculty of Tel Aviv University. Click here to read more.